Electric fuse panel



A. w. MINOTT ELECTRIC FUSE PANEL Filed June 3, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheetl A. W. MlNOTT Y ELECTRIC FUSE PANEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 5, 1926 Patented De'c. 4, 1928.` v

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

amm w. mnrom, or Anas, Iowa, AssmNon or ons-HALF ro e. c. Mmmm, or

Das nomas, Iowa.

ELECTRIC FUSE PANEL.

Application filed .Tune 3, 192.6. Serial No. 113,567.

My invention relates to that class of electric4l i fuse panels which are customarily placed in the walls of residences for the purpose of supporting an electric meter and for containing fuses for the line circuits and the varioushousehold service circuits.

The objects of my invention are to provide an electric fuse panel of this class so arranged that the householder may readily, conveniently and easily remove any burnt out fuse and replace it without the possibility of coming in contact with a live wire or other metal.

A further object is to provide an electric fuse panel of this class in which the user is prevented from having. access to any of the wire terminals within the fuse anel for the purpose of causing some or all o the currents to flow intol the house without first having passed through the meter, or for any other urpose, without first removin the meter and reaking the seals thereon so t at the act may be readily and easily detected by the meter reader. y

My invention consists in the construction,

' arrangement and combination ofthe various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as Ahereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and

illustrated in the accompanying'drawings, in

which:

Figure 1 shows afront elevation of an electric fuse panel embodying my .invention and having the meter in position thereon.

Figure 2 shows an enlarged vertical, sectional viewon the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows an enlarged, detail, perspective View illustrating a'pirtion of the panel frame and thehinge'd door" to the fuse compartment, and illustrating particularly the meter supporting and door'locking bracket.

Figure 4- shqws an enlarged, detail view` partly in section on the line 4 4 of Figure 2, and illustrating the terminal connections between the meter and the line and service wires.

Figure 5 shows an enlarged, detail, sectional View on the line. 5 5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 shows an enlarged, sectional view on the line 6 6 of Figure 2, showing the inner face of the Vsliding member 'of the panel and other details. l

' Figure-7 shows an enlarged detail view, partly in section, illustrating the main switch and taken on the line 7 7 o Figure 2.

the upwardly projecting lower margin 27 Figure 8 shows an enlar ed, detail, section- 55 al view on the line 8 8 of 4igure 7.

Figure 9 shows an enlarged, detail, sectional view illustrating the seal for securing the meterto the bracket and taken on the line 9 9 of Figure 1; and i f Figure 10 illustrates diagrammatically the arrangement of the electric elements.

Figure 1l is a perspective view of the meter astning screw with locking means in its Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral 10 .to indicate generally the main frame of the panel, which is enclosed on all sides except at the front, and which is designed to contain the fuses and switches hereinafter described.

At the top of the main panel there is ypro- 4vided a space to receive a meter, indicated l away from the panel 10 and is provided with lugs 15y designed to receive bolts 16 which are designed to enter the screw threaded openings 17 in the panel 10 forsecuring the bracket to the panel 10.

The meter is provided with a downwardly l extending memberv 18 designed to enter the upper end of the bracket 10. The meter is held in place by a bolt 19 at the top and by two bolts 16 which pass through the lugs 20 on the meter and are seated in the panel 10, as shown in Figure 9. `These bolts are preferably provided with o enings through which the flexible wire 21 o a Seal 22 may be extended. This wire also is extended through A.an opening 23 in thes'ide of the bracket 12, so that when the bolts and seals are in position the bracket cannot be removed without rst breaking the seal. The hinged panel member comprises a sheet metal body portion 24 having a hinged connection at the bottom of the panel body 10 formed as follows: On the door 24 lare two lugs 25 extended inwardly and then downwardly and designed to enter notches 26 formed on of the main panel member 10, as shown in Figures 2 and 6, or any other suitable way. The hinged member thus formed, however,

obviously cannot 4be manipulated from the outside to move the hinged member forwardly without first moving it upwardly. At the upper end of the hinged panel member are two openings 28, and fixed to the stationary panel member at the top are. two headed pins 29, the heads of which are free to pass through the openings 28 when the hinged panel meinber swings forwardly. The body portions, however, of these headed pins 29 are of less diameter than the hinge and are designed to be received into theslots 14 of the bracket l2, as indicated in Figure l, so that when the bracket is in its position as shown in Figure l, .the door member 24 cannot swing outwardly at its top without first having removed the bracket 12.

Mounted upon the interior of the panel body l() is an insulator block 30, supported upon bolts 3l which are fixed to the hinged front member 24, as shown in Figure 2. Mounted upon the front face of this insulator block 30 is a series of fuse sockets 32, into which fuses 33 are screwed in the ordinary manner.

Slidingly mounted upon the inner face of the hinged front member 24 is a metal plate 34 capable of sliding transversely. This plate is formed with a series of slots 35 through which the bolts 31 extend, thus slidingly supporting the plate 34 and limiting its movement. 'lhis plate 34 is formed with a series of round openings 3G and notches 37 so arranged'thatwhen the sliding plate `is in the position shown in Figure 6, it will cover the openings 38 in the hinged member 24, but

vwhen moved to the right, as shown in Figure 6, the openings 36 and notches 37 will coincide with the openings 38 and permit an opcrater in the frontof the panel to have free access to the fuses 33 to remove or replace them.

For the purpose of operating the sliding plate 34, I have provided near the center thereof a horizontally arranged slot 39, and fixed in position above the slot is a rack 40. A pinion 4l is arranged in mesh with the rack 40 and projects through an opening in the panel member 24 and through the slot 39 and has a knob 42 at its forward end. When` this knob 42 is turned in one direction, the sliding panel member is moved in one direction to provide access to the fusepanel, and when moved in the other direction, it closes the openings in the panel 24.

For the purpose of preventing the slide member 34 from being opened when there is any electric current in any of the fuses or adjacent arts of the device, I have provided a switch evice as follows Mounted upon the interior of the panel is an insulator block 43 having thereon a series of stationary knife switch` Contact devices 44. The switch proper comprises an insulator body 45 having a series of knife contacts 46 extended outwardly therefrom and designed to enter and engage the contacts/44. This insulator body 45 is slidably mounted upon two stationary pins 47 fixed to the insulator block 43. These pins, as clearly shown in Figure. 3, have tapered sockets at their outer ends. Fixed to the front 24 are two pins 4S having tapered inner ends 4S) designed to enter the tapered sockets in the pin members 4T. These parts are so arranged, as clearly shown in Figure 8, that when the hinged panel member is closed, then the pinsl 4i' and 4S form a continuons rod upon which the switch body 45 may freely slide. lVhen the switch body is in the position shown in Figure 8, the switch body 45 rests upon the pin member 4T, but when the switch is opened, the switch body 45 rests upon and is supported by the pin members 48.

Fixed to the central portion ot the switch body 45 is a rod 50 having a reduced portion at 51. the hinged front 24 and is provided with a knob 52 on its outer end. This rod 5l) is projected through a slot 53 in the slide member 34, and this slot 53 has an enlarged rounded end 54 of a size to freely admit the large portion of the rod 50, whereas the slot 53 proper is only large enough to admit'the reduced portion 5l of the rod 50.

In operation with this part of the device, it will be seen that when the hinged panel front is in its closed position the enlarged portion of the rod is in the enlargcd'rouiuled portion 54 of the slot 53, thus forming a lock to positively prevent sliding movement of the sliding panel member 34. vWhen, however, thc knob 52 is pulled forwardly, then the switch body 45 is drawn to its forward limit of movement resting upon the pin members 48, the reduced portion 51 of the rod 50 is in line with the narrow slot 53, whereupon "the sliding panel 34 is free to move laterally.

By this arrangement it will be seen that the. sliding panel cannot possibly be opened to provide access to the fuses so long as there is any current passing through any ofthe fuses or adjacent parts. When, however, the main switch 45 is opened by pulling it forwardly, then the knob 42 may be rotated and the sliding panel removedrlaterally and opened to provide access to the fuses.

In the event that it ever becomes necessary This rod extends outwardly through A il (l to open the hinged panel member, the operator first draws the knob l52 forwardly, thus cutting off the main line circuit and then the seals on theV meters are broken, the bracket 12 is elevated ,and the hinged panel member is swung forwardly with the switch body 45 carried forwardlyby it` and when this is done the operator may have free access to the interior of the panel for purposes of repair or replacement without any danger of receiving a shock during such operation.

The terminal connector between the line and service wires and the meter comprises an insulator block 55 mounted in the upper portion ofthe main frame behind the bracket 12, and fixed thereto is a series of terminal connectors 56 of ordinary construction.

For the purpose of illustrating the arrangement of the electric wiring in my improved fuse panel, I have illustrated the same diagrammatically in Figure 10. In this figure the heavy line wires are indicated by the numeral 57. They extend first to the main switch 45 and lead next through the upper ones of the fuses 33, then to the terminal con* nector 56, and v.from thence to the meter 1l.

The service wires for each circuit are indicated by the numeral 58 and lead from the meter first through the lower fuses 33 and from thence to the point of delivery.

In practical operation, and assuming that my improved panel is permanently placed in position in a building wall, and that the meter is applied as herein described and sealed, and that current is provided for the line wire, and assuming further that after the panel is thus installedthere should be a failure of current'for some reason in one or more of the service circuits within the build ing, then the operator opens the main line switch by pulling outwardly on the knob 52,l and when this is done the knob 42 may be turned to open the movable cover device for the fuses, andvthereby provide access to all of the fuses, so that the burnt out fuse may be replaced, and during all of the time the operator is engaged in examining or removing or replacing the fuses, there is absolutely no danger of his receiving a shock.

Furthermore, after the fuses have been replaced,the operator cannot turn on the current until after the movable cover member for the fuses has been closed, because the main line switch cannot be closed so long as the movable cover member is opened. Hence, the operator must first replace the fuse cover and then he may push the switch knob 52 inwardly to`cl0se the switch.

It is obvious further that no one can have access to the wires leading to and from the meter, or to the wires leading to and from the fuses without first breaking the seals on the meter. Hence unauthorized persons cannot obtain current for use in any of the household service circuits without having said current go through the -meter, or Without breaking the meter seals. However, the owner of the meter may have read' access to all of the important parts of the use panel by first breaking the seals on the meter and then removing them, and then removing the bracket 12 and opening the hinged panel. When this hinged panel 24 is opened, as shown by dotted lines in Figure- 2, and the bracket 12 is removed,

free access may be had to all parts of the fuse panel, but because of the fact that the round openings 38 in the `panel 24 are relatively small, the opening of the sliding panel mem? ber 34 does not give any access to the wiring` in the rear of the insulator block 30, but only permits the removal or replacement of fuses.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an electric fuse panel, the combination of a panel body portion, a panel front hinged to the body portion to swing outwardly at its top, a fuse panel-supported by said front to normally lie within the panel when the front is closed, a series of fuses mounted thereon, said front having a series of openings adjacent to each fuse through which access may behadto remove or replace the fuses, a sliding front member mounted upon the inner surface of the hinged front member, bolts connecting the fuse panel with the hinged front member, said sliding front member being formed with slots to re ceive said bolts, and whereby the sliding member is 'guided and supported, means on the exterior of the hinged front member for moving said [sliding front member, a main line switch within the panel, and means con! nected with saidswitch for locking the sliding. front member when the switch is closed and for releasiiigthe sliding front member J when the switch isn opened.

2. In an electric fuse panel, the combination of a panel body portion, a panel front capable of movement from a closed position to enclose the panel body to aposition to provide access to the interior of the panel body, a fuse panel normally contained'within the panel body, a series of fuses mounted on the fuse panel, said front havinga'series'of openings, one adjacent to each fuse and through which access'may be had to remove or replace the fuses, a sliding front member mounted adjacent to the inner surface of the first mentioned front membermeans for movin@r the4 sliding front member, said sliding Iront member being formed with openings so arranged that in one position of its movement, the openings in the sliding front member will coincide with the openings in the first mentioned front member, and when in .another position the sliding front member will en- -v to position for providing access to the fuses.

Des Moines, Iowa, May 17, 1926.

` ADAIR w. MiNoTT. 

